Weather systems at Sea

Having lived much of my life near the sea, well my main youth years, I have a total fascination with water in its many forms.

The encaustic medium is amazing at helping to create the image of lucidity and volume of water on a support.  Here are a couple of examples to be found in my Etsy shop.

The first painting in wax is that of a turbulent weather system which can produce ‘twisters’.

Imagine the wind howling as it pulls up the water into an amazing rough sea and then tries to drag air up into twister shapes.

In total contrast my next painting, A Cliff Walk,  is that of an image I often encountered as I walked along cliff tops on an island called Guernsey in the Channel Islands (mid way between England and France).  Although there are many concrete relics of WW2 from when Hitler invaded the islands, there are many areas of peace where the walker is allowed to enjoy and contemplate along with the local birds.

Artfire.com

The art really is on fire on this site! Well, not just art but all handmade items and there are some beauties including my Cascades Waters!

I have been on Artfire for a while now and find it such an easy, friendly site to work on. This site really ‘wants’ to sell your stuff. Now, very unusually, you only pay a small monthly sum to sell your products. Yup, just one payment and that’s it! No final value payments, listing fees etc.

Another thing! They really want to help you as a seller. Artfire want to reward you for your hard work and loyalty. For instance, if you follow this link http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=power_up&refuid=478 you can join and use me as the referrer. If I get 12 folks doing this it will pay my monthly subs. Then you do the same!!! Imagine being able to list and sell for free??

I quote here the message that Artfire have sent out to their members…..

‘Your confidence and your investment in the ArtFire community is appreciated and does not go unnoticed or un-rewarded! With the ArtFire Free Ride program for a limited time, you can earn an upgraded Verified account with full functionality and the ability to list unlimited items in your Fusion Studio absolutely free for life! Just refer 12 of your friends and when they join as a Verified member you, PLUS a friend of your choice receive a Free Ride! We provide a custom link for you below, just copy it and paste it in blogs or forums you frequent and email friends to participate!’

So, what’s stopping you and whilst you are about it….. have a look around my Artfire shop?

The Kon-tiki Expedition

Now I am going back a few years but actually remember reading the book in our English classes at school. The subject matter was about a guy named Thor Heyerdahl who was a Norwegian scientist who led the Kon-Tiki expedition.

I can hear you ask, ‘What is that all about?’

Many believed that the people of Lake Titicaca in Peru and Bolivia, seemed to have a culture far different from other people in the area, and therefore could be the descendents of these migrants. Genetic testing has proved that the people of Polynesia did descend from South East Asia and not South America.

In 1947 Heyerdahl decided to re-enact a journey, that was believed impossible, to shed new light on the possibilities of the people of both South America and Polynesia. He believed that the migration to/from Polynesia (including Easter Island) and South America was possible.

The voyage in a balsa reed craft began in April 1947 and ended 101 days later at a distance of 4,300 miles.

The book written by Heyerdahl about the expedition, Kon-Tiki, was a best seller and a documentary made on the voyage won the Oscar for best picture in 1951.

Going back to my inspiration for this ACEO it was whilst I was developing the painting in wax that a realisation came to me that this could have been the balsa wood raft used for the Kon-Tiki expedition. What do you think?

This ACEO is for sale in my artfire shop.

Different aspects of water

For the first time for quite a while I am in the right mood to put iron to canvas!  The wonder of encaustics is that you might have an idea of a subject matter but how it will evolve is up to the waxes on the day.

For the first painting I used my hot air gun.  Ooooh the power!   Well, actually, the heat.  I am always very conscious of where I place the gun once I have used it.  I really wouldn’t want to set the house on fire!

Whilst I was blowing the waxes around on the canvas and using different colours the idea of water lilies came to mind.  I am always amazed to discover how diverse water lilies can be in colour.  Remember the famous painting by the artist Monet?  Here is his interpretation of the subject.  I love the softness of this painting.

Now here is my interpretation.  A very different view but I still feel that the title Water Lilies is right for this encaustic.

 

 

Interestingly enough, I only searched out Monet’s painting after I had completed mine.  This painting is for sale on Artfire.com

 

In complete contrast but still using water as my main ‘prop’ I painted this one entitled Sail Boats.  I loved the feeling of release and freedom that the sea and sky offer to the lone sailor.  Just enough breeze to keep the boats moving!

This encaustic is for sale in my Etsy shop.

So, you see water has many moods depending on colour, application and ultimately, subject matter.